(CNA. Silas Mwale Isenjia).
Pope Francis has erected the Archdiocese of Ndola in Zambia and appointed Bishop Benjamin Phiri as its first archbishop. The southern African nation has had two metropolitan sees — the Archdiocese of Lusaka, headquartered in the country’s capital city, and the Archdiocese of Kasama in northern Zambia. The latest administrative changes in the southern African nation were made public by the Holy See Press office on Tuesday, June 18. The newly erected metropolitan see is located in the central region of Zambia and measures 32,000 square kilometers (about 12,400 square miles) and has a population of 3.2 million, of which 1.9 million are Catholic, representing 59.6% of the total population of the archdiocese, according to the Holy See Press report.